Apparatus for producing a pile fabric

ABSTRACT

An apparatus for the manufacture of nonwoven pile fabrics suitable for carpeting or the like includes an array of loopforming members arranged in paired relationship, the array being adapted to travel past a loop-forming station wherein loops of yarn are formed. Each of the loop-forming members comprises a relatively elongated bead portion upon which yarns are disposed to form loops when the yarns are inserted between a pair of said loop-forming members, and a relatively elongated flexible slat portion at one edge integral with the bead portion and adapted to be fixed at the other end to a dimensionally stable carrier.

United States Patent Inventor Ralph M. Adler New York, NY.

Appl. No. 810,306

Filed Mar. 25, 1969 Patented July 13, 1971 Assignee Adler ProcessCorporation New York, N.Y. Continuation-impart 01 application Ser. No.793,842, Jan. 24, 1969, which is a continuation-impart of applicationSer. No. 520,402, Jan. 13, 1966, now Patent No. 3,424,632.

APPARATUS FOR PRODUCING A PILE FABRIC 4 Claims, 6 Drawing Figs.

US. Cl 226/104, 156/72, 226/113 Int. Cl 1365b 17/18 Field of Search156/72, 591,594; 226/104, ll3l 15; 112/79; 28/1.8,

Primary Examiner-Richard A, Schacher Att0rneysRobert S. Dunham, P. E.l-lenninger, Lester W.

Clark, Gerald W. Griffin, Thomas F. Moran, Howard .1. Churchill, R.Bradlee Real and Christopher C. Dunham ABSTRACT: An apparatus for themanufacture of nonwoven pile fabrics suitable for carpeting or the likeincludes an array of loop-forming members arranged in pairedrelationship, the array being adapted to travel past a loop-formingstation wherein loops of yarn are formed. Each of the loop-formingmembers comprises a relatively elongated bead portion upon which yarnsare disposed to form loops when the yarns are inserted between a pair ofsaid loop-forming members, and a relatively elongated flexible slatportion at one edge integral with the bead portion and adapted to befixed at the other end to a dimensionally stable carrier.

.OQ'I'IC'OO'. illlrlllllllill APPARATUS FOR PRODUCING A PILE FABRICCROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS The present application is acontinuation-in-part of copending application Ser. No. 793,842 filedJan. 24, 1969, for Method and Apparatus for Production of Pile Carpetingand the Like," which in turn is a continuation-in-part of applicationSer. No. 520,402 filed Jan. 13, I966, entitled Method and Apparatus forProduction of Pile Carpeting and the Like," now US. Pat. No. 3,424,632.The above-identified disclosures are herein incorporated and made partof this disclosure.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to nonwoven pilefabrics and to apparatus for producing same. More particularly, thisinvention relates to the loop-forming members employed in apparatus formanufacturing nonwoven pile fabrics, such as carpeting, rugs, and thelike.

Various methods and apparatus are employed for t the production of pilefabrics. Those methods and apparatus employing a weaving technique arecapable of producing quality pile fabrics having a dense pile and a longservice or wearing life. Woven pile fabrics, however, are relativelyexpensive to produce and as a result woven pile fabrics are costly. Pilefabrics and carpeting have also been prepared by utilizing nonweavingtechniques, such as knitting and tufting. Pile fabrics produced by suchtechniques, however, generally exhibit a relatively loose pile and areusually less attractive. Such pile fabrics, however, are capable ofbeing produced at a relatively high rate and are usually less expensivethan woven pile fabrics.

The textile industry, and particularly that portion involved in theproduction of pile fabrics, such as carpeting and rugs, has long beeninterested in a fast, practical, inexpensive method and apparatus forthe production of pile fabrics having a relatively dense pile andexhibiting a long wearing life while simulating a woven-pile fabric.Techniques employed and suggested heretofore for the manufacture of suchnonwoven fabrics, however, have not been entirely satisfactory.

Although techniques of making pile fabrics by forming loops of yarnbetween spaced, parallel, slatlike machine elements or loop-formingmembers have been investigated, there has been relatively littlecommercial utilization of these techniques. Apparently the previouslyknown and suggested techniques have failed to meet the very demandingrequirements of a commercially acceptable operation. It would appearthat in order to gain commercial acceptance, a method and apparatus forthe production of nonwoven pile fabrics must be capable of rapidly andcontinuously producing pile fabrics from diverse materials, natural andsynthetic fibers, and spun, twisted or monofilament yarns, as well as ina variety of controlled pile heights, densities and patterns withoutrequiring extensive alteration of the existing apparatus and basicmethod.

The apparatus and methods disclosed in US. Pat. No. 3,424,632 and incopending application, Ser. No. 793,842, filed Jan. 24, 1969, overcamemany of these industry problems. The disclosures of this patent andpatent application show loop-forming members arranged in a closed arrayin parallel side-by-side disposition. The loops of yarn are formedbetween the loop-forming members and are then cut and a backing materialapplied thereto. Thereafter, the resulting nonwoven pile fabric orcarpet is removed from the array of loop-forming members.

In the structure of the aforementioned patent application, the array ofloop-forming members is moved continuously beneath a loop-formingstation, wherein a bladelike element descends so as to press yarns,which are continuously supplied to the loop-forming station, betweenadjacent loop-forming members directly beneath the bladelike element.When the yarns are pressed by the bladelike element between theloopforming members to form loops of yarn therebetween, the blade iswithdrawn. Associated with the loop-forming station and the bladelikeelement is a gauge blade which serves the purposes of maintaining thepreviously formed loops of yarn between the loop-forming members anddetermining the height of the pile in the produced nonwoven fabric orthe length of the yarn loops between the loop-forming members.

In operation, before the loop-forming element is moved downwardly toform loops, the guage blade is moved downwardly and inserted between twoadjacent loop-forming members containing the immediately previouslyformed yarn loops. The guage blade descends into those loops to adistance not greater than and preferably less than the depth of the yarnloops. When the gauge blade has entered into the previously formed yarnloops, the loop-forming blade descends and produces newly formed yarnloops. In the instance where the gauge blade does not descend into thepreviously formed yarn loops to the full depth of the yarn loops, as theloop-forming blade descends, some of the yarn material making up thepreviously formed yarn loops is taken away or robbed" to make up thenewly formed yarn loops. When the loop-forming blade has fullydescended, preferably toa distance greater than the gauge blade, boththe loop-forming blade and the gauge blade are removed.

A further problem in the prior art concerned the design of an array ofloop-forming members which would yield a commercially acceptableproduct, particularly considering that it is commercially desirable toproduce continuous length pile fabric having a width of about 15 feet.

The slatlike, loop-forrning members making up the closed array must bein closely arranged parallel relationship with the pitch orcenter-to-center distance between successive loopforming members beingapproximately three-sixteenths inch, more or less, depending upon thethickness of the yarn. As a result, it is apparent that when theslatlike, loop-forming members are long, thin members, they must havesubstantial depth to prevent sagging. Because of the construction anddimensions of the loop-forming members and the resulting array, meansmust also be provided to provide support, alignment and transport of theloop-forming members and the array.

Means must further be provided for synchronizing the arrival of theloop-forming members at the loop-forming station so as to assure properpositioning of the loop-forming members relative to the blade whichdescends to press the yarn or warp material between adjacentloop-forming members to form loops of yarn therebetween. If theloop-forming members are disposed'in a rigid, fixed, parallel, spacedrelationship with respect to each other, at best only a given thicknessof warp material or yarn will be accommodated and satisfactorilyretained therebetween. Thinner warp material or yarn will tend to escapefrom between the loop-forming members. If thicker warp material or yarnis desired, excessive force is required to locate the yarn between thelooptorming members. Such excessive force tends to cause yarn damage andbreakage and the resulting formed loops tend to force or wedge theloop-forming members apart into a nonparallel relationship, thenonparallelism rapidly accumulating to a critical level. Even when theloop-forming members are disposed in a hinged, substantially parallelrelationship, which arrangement requires force to be continuouslyapplied to the array so as to retain the looped warp material betweenthe loop-forming members, the total aggregate force required, ifsupplied from outside the structure by means of springs and the like,becomes enormous and substantially impractical of achievement.

These problems were solved in the devices of the aforementioned patentapplication by imparting magnetic properties to the slatlike,loop-forming members. For example, the slatlike, loop-forming member ismade of magnetic material or has magnetic material fixed or otherwiseattached thereto such members with the result that the array of theloop-forming members is magnetically held together. The magneticattraction between adjacent loop-forming members provides the force forretaining the looped material therebetween. At the same time themagnetic attraction between adjacent loopforming members permits thesemembers to be, in effect, hingedly separated to readily accommodate theentry of the blade and looped yarn therebetween during the loop-formingoperatron.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is toprovide a commercially feasible apparatus for the production of anonwoven pile fabric suitable for use as carpeting, rugs, and the like.

Another object of the invention is to provide an apparatus for theproduction of nonwoven pile fabric which is simple in construction andoperation.

To these and other ends, the present invention contemplates an apparatusfor producing a nonwoven pile fabric including loop-forming members,each comprising a relatively elongated bead portion and a relativelyelongated, flexible slat portion integral with the bead portion andadapted to be connected or fixed to a supporting plank or carrier. Theloopforming members are arranged in paired relationship and pairs of theloop-forming members extend along the length of one side of the plank orcarrier. Means are further provided for moving the loop-forming memberstogether with the planks or carriers fixed thereto in a desired path.

The bead portions of the loopforming members are shaped or formed aselongated cylinders which extend to the entire length of theloop-forming member. Integral with each bead portion and adapted toconnect the bead portion to a means of support is a flexible slatportion. Each slat portion is of the same length as its associated beadportion and maintains the bead portion at a sufficient height above themeans of support or carrier so that loops of fabric may be formedbetween pairs of loop-forming members. As the loop-forming members aredesigned to be in paired relationship, pairs of slat portions havediametrically opposing offsets at their ends or edges opposite the beadportion ends or edges so that the slat portions may be mutually securedtogether and to a means of support.

Carriers or planks of lightweight, dimensionally stable material arepreferably the means of support. The loop-forming members are disposedsubstantially entirely on one surface of the plank so that theirlongitudinal axes are substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis ofthe plank, the planks being approximately the same length as theloop-forming members. A series of planks are arranged to be continuouslyadvanced in a direction substantially transverse to their longitudinalaxes past a loop-forming station, where loops of fabric are created uponthe loop-forming members by loop-forming and gauge elements.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a schematic elevational viewof an array of loopforming members advancing past a loop-forming stationto form loops of yarn in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an elevational view of several arrays of loop-forming membersand the means for continuously advancing same;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional elevational view taken along the line 3-3 ofFIG. 2',

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of an array of loop-forming members;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged perspective view of several pairs of loop-formingmembers arranged in the preferred means of support of the presentinvention; and

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional elevational view of the loop-forming memberstaken along the line 6-6 of FIG. 3.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Referring to FIG. I of the drawings. there is shownan array ofloop-forming members generally indicated by reference numerall0 advancing past loop-forming station 12 wherein loops of yarn 14 areformed. Loop-forming members I0 each comprise bead portion 16 and slatportion I8 integral therewith and adapted to be connected or fixed tosupporting carrier or plank 20. Loop-forming members 10 are preferablyarranged in paired, opposed relationship and extend lengthwise over oneside 20a of supporting plank 20. The array of loopforming members 10 iscontinuously moved in the direction of arrow 22 past loop-formingstation 12.

Loop-forming station 12 comprises loop-forming element or blade 24 andgauge element or blade 26, both elements being operatively connected toa cam-operated pushrod (not shown) for movement therewith. Loop-formingelement 24 and gauge element 26 are adapted and positioned to descendbetween adjacent loop-forming members 10 as loop-forming members 10 movebeneath the elements. A plurality of yarns or warp material 28 iscontinuously inserted and held between loop-forming members 10 so as toform loops 14 of yarn therebetween. As the downward movements ofloop-forming element 24 and gauge element 26 are synchronized with themotion and position of loop-forming members 10, plural strands of yarnor warp material 28 are inserted downwardly by loop-forming element 24between adjacent loop-forming members 10 and the immediately previouslyformed loops of yarn or warp material 28 may be held betweencorresponding loop-forming members 10 by gauge element 26 insertedthereinto. There is thus formed an array ofloops 14 from yarn 28 betweenloop-forming elements 10 which are adapted to move with the arrayofl0opforming members 10.

The means for conveying the arrays of loop-forming members 10continuously past loop-forming station 12 is shown in FIGS. 2 through 4.Each supporting plank 20 for an array of loop-forming members 10 hassecured thereon at its longitudinal end portions sprockets mechanisms30, which are continuously engaged by sprockets 32 of large driving gear34 rotated on shaft 36 by means of a drive chain (not shown). It shouldbe noted that as the axes of the sprockets of sprocket mechanism 30 liein a plane parallel to the surface 201: of supporting plank 20, drivinggear 34 must be located on a straight portion of the conveyor ratherthan on the curved portions thereof. Sprocket mechanism 30 includes aplurality of sprockets 38 designed to mesh with sprockets 32 of gear 34.These sprockets 38 depend from supporting plank 20 and are held betweenparallel plates 40, 42, each sprocket 38 being permitted to rotate onpin 39. Plate 40 may be connected to the longitudinal end portion ofsupporting plank 20 by any suitable means, e.g. screw 44, while plate42, which is actually an angle, may be connected to lower surface 20c ofsupporting plank 20 by any suitable means, e.g. bolt and nut 46.Preferably, reinforcing plates 47 are disposed between plates 40, 42 andsupporting plank 20.

Disposed at each corner of supporting plank 20 is a wheel or roller 48which is located on the most outward pin 39a of sprocket mechanism 30,but which lies in a plane outward from the plane of sprocket mechanism30 and gear 34. Extension plates 54, 56 extend beyond the end ofsupporting plank 20 in order to journal pin 39a which serves as theshaft for wheel 48, pin 39a thereby being disposed between two adjoiningarrays of loop-forming members 10. Wheels or rollers 48 ride withinparallel tracks 50 of the conveyor so that the arrays of loop-formingmembers 10 are continuously advanced in a straight line towardloop-forming station 12. Parallel tracks 50 are sufficiently spacedoutward from the arrays of loop-forming members 10 so that the arraysmay travel freely despite the curvature of the tracks in the conveyingapparatus. It is an advantage of the present construction that assupporting planks 20 of the arrays of loop-forming members 10 arerelatively rigid, no support for the lower or returning section of theconveyor is necessary. Track support 52 is provided for track 50,however.

As best seen in FIGS. 5 and 6, loop-forming members 10 upon which loopsof yarn are formed each comprise bead portion 16 and slat portion 18integral therewith. Bead portions 16 are illustrated as elongated hollowcylinders (although they may be solid), extending to the entire width ofthe pile fabric to be produced and nearly to the entire length ofsupporting plank 20. Thus, bead portions 16 may be approximatelyoneeighth inch in diameter and anywhere from a few feet to l5 feet inlength, depending upon the width of the pile fabric to be produced. Beadportions 16 are disposed in parallel relationship so that yarn or warpmaterial 28 may be formed into loops 14 therebetween in order to formpile fabric.

Bead portion 16 is formed by rolling a longitudinal edge of slat portion18. Thus each bead portion 16 is integral with its associated slatportion 18, of the same length, and fabricated from the same material,eg sheet stainless steel approximate ly 0.0l8-inch thickness. Slatportions 18 are dimensioned to maintain bead portions 16 at sufficientheight above supporting plank 20 that loops of yarn 14 may be formedbetween ad jacent bead portions 16. If the general range of pile heightsof the produced fabric is to be relatively high or deep, slat portions18 will be of relatively greater height and if the pile height is to berelatively low, slat portions 18 will be relatively short. The pitch ofloop-forming members is preferably approximately three-sixteenths inchwith about one-sixteenth to one-eighth inch spacing between loop-formingmembers 10. With this spacing arrangement, there will be approximately68 loop-forming members 10 per linear foot of the array.

It is presently preferred that loop-forming members 10 be disposed inparallel paired relationship, Each slat portion 18 is offset at its endopposite bead portion 16 to form offset 18a and each offset portion 18::is secured to supporting plank 20 together with the diametricallyopposed offset portion 18a of its paired member. Despite the fact thatslat portions 18 are offset at their lower ends, slat portions 18 andhence bead portions 16 are disposed in the array at substantially equaldistances from each other and thus loops of yarn of substantially equalsize may be formed therebetween, regardless of whether the loops of yarnare formed between bead portions 16 ofa pair ofloop-forming members 10or between bead portions 16 of adjacent pairs of loop-forming members.

Providing the means of support for loop-forming members 10 are planks 20oflightweight, dimensionally stable material. Planks 20 are preferablyfabricated from a wood composition comprised of wood chips compressedand bonded together under pressure. Although such a support ispreferred, it is within the scope of the invention to employ supportingplanks of other materials which are lightweight and dimensionallystable. Loop-forming members 10 are disposed on upper surface 20a andfitted and fixed within longitudinal grooves 2012 cut into the surfaceof supporting plank 20. Loop-forming members 10 are arranged so thattheir longitudinal axes are substantially parallel to the longitudinalaxis of supporting plank 20, planks 20 being of approximately the samelength as loop-forming members 10. As supporting planks 20 are arrangedso that they are continuously advanced in a direction substantiallytransverse to their longitudinal axes, i.e. in the direction of theirshort dimension, planks 20 rapidly move past loop-forming station 12where yarn or warp material 28 is inserted between loop-forming members10 to form loops of yarn therebetween.

In operation of the present apparatus for producing a pile fabric, aplurality of strands of yarn or warp material 28 are disposed over beadportions 16 of loop-forming members 10 as the members are continuouslyadvanced in the path of the array. Loop-forming element 24 is moveddownwardly so as to form loops of yarn 14 between bead portions 16 ofloop-forming members 10 and is withdrawn. Gauge element 26 moves of I00s of yarn 14, loops 14 ma be cut by a blade (not shown? and a suitablefilm-forming inder material may be applied to the top surface of thearray of cut loops. Then backing material may be supplied to the surfaceupon which the binder material has been placed and pressed into firmadhesive contact with the cut yarn loops. After a cooling or chillingoperation, the resulting pile fabric is removed from the array ofloop-forming members 10 as a substantially finished pile fabric product.Thus, the present invention provides a desirable and commerciallyacceptable apparatus for producing nonwoven pile fabrics for carpetingor the like.

As will be apparent to those skilled in the art in the light of theforegoing disclosures, many modifications, alterations and substitutionsare possible in the practice of this invention without departing fromthe spirit or scope thereof.

I claim:

1. A pair of slatlike elements useful in an apparatus for producing apile fabric, each of said elements comprising a bead portion extendingalong one edge of said element, a slat portion integral with said beadportion and extending therefrom, said slat portion having an offsetportion along that edge thereof remote from said bead portion, theaforesaid offset portion having a section or length parallel withrespect to said slat portion, the parallel section of one of said pairofelements being fixed in contact with and opposed to the parallelsection of the other of said pair of elements and the bead portions ofsaid elements being disposed in adjacent, parallel relationship.

2. A pair of elements in accordance with claim 1 including a carrier,the slat portions being fixed together at their offset portions to saidcarrier.

3. An array of pairs of elements in accordance with claim 1 wherein saidpairs are fixed to a carrier and wherein said pairs of elements makingup said array are disposed equidistant from each other.

4. Apparatus for producing a pile fabric comprising an array of pairs ofelements in accordance with claim 1, planklike support means, saidplanklike support means carrying said array of pairs of elements, theelements making up said pairs being fixed to said planklike supportmeans at the parallel sections of said elements, means for continuouslymoving said support means past a loop-forming station, loop-formingmeans at said loop-forming station adapted for up-and-down movementrelative to said pairs of elements for inserting and pressing downwardlyyarn between each of said pairs of elements to form loops of yarntherebetween and gauge means associated with said loop-forming means andadapted for up-and-down movement relative to said elements for insertionbetween a pair of said elements containing the previously formed loopsof yarn therebetween to a distance not exceeding the distance saidloop-forming means was previously inserted thereinto so as to cause saidpreviously formed loops of yarn to be withdrawn to an amount determinedby the depth or distance to which said gauge means is inserted betweenthe following pair of said elements to form additional loops of yarntherebetween.

1. A pair of slatlike elements useful in an apparatus for producing apile fabric, each of said elements comprising a bead portion extendingalong one edge of said element, a slat portion integral with said beadportion and extending therefrom, said slat portion having an offsetportion along that edge thereof remote from said bead portion, theaforesaid offset portion having a section or length parallel withrespect to said slat portion, the parallel section of one of said pairof elements being fixed in contact with and opposed to the parallelsection of the other of said pair of elements and the bead portions ofsaid elements being disposed in adjacent, parallel relationship.
 2. Apair of elements in accordance with claim 1 including a carrier, theslat portions being fixed together at their offset portions to saidcarrier.
 3. An array of pairs of elements in accordance with claim 1wherein said pairs are fixed to a carrier and wherein said pairs ofelements making up said array are disposed equidistant from each other.4. Apparatus for producing a pile Fabric comprising an array of pairs ofelements in accordance with claim 1, planklike support means, saidplanklike support means carrying said array of pairs of elements, theelements making up said pairs being fixed to said planklike supportmeans at the parallel sections of said elements, means for continuouslymoving said support means past a loop-forming station, loop-formingmeans at said loop-forming station adapted for up-and-down movementrelative to said pairs of elements for inserting and pressing downwardlyyarn between each of said pairs of elements to form loops of yarntherebetween and gauge means associated with said loop-forming means andadapted for up-and-down movement relative to said elements for insertionbetween a pair of said elements containing the previously formed loopsof yarn therebetween to a distance not exceeding the distance saidloop-forming means was previously inserted thereinto so as to cause saidpreviously formed loops of yarn to be withdrawn to an amount determinedby the depth or distance to which said gauge means is inserted betweenthe following pair of said elements to form additional loops of yarntherebetween.